Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

Parkersback thanks for kind words I want to keep the memories of the Plant and Publicker alive while I am here to do it.

When I was hired in Sept of 1966 it was the result of many years of planing and designing and building of the 1966 Bottling house, when it opened it was truely the best sprits bottling house in all the world. It was decades above the Old Bigler street bottle house in Phila.

Publicker also paid to have busing of people with long service years at the old Phila bottle house to Linfield every day 5 days a week. It was one of the first bottling houses to sport an early Computer driven bottling line number A-1-F could do 40,000 bottles a day that was unheard of before 1966. And there were 10 other bottling lines and lines to repair leakers and fix labels too!

The 1966 Bottle House was a living city of People, about 520 and state of Art equipment and its own Laboratory and nursing station. Also those years it was unheard of, but the bottle house had battery powered emergency escape lights in all the important areas. My friend here in safety where I work was very impressed when I showed him pictures I took of the Old Excide emergency lighting units. To look at it now you would never know what a glorious place it was.

There never a fire or explosion and no one ever hurt bad there! We did alot of custom bottling for Large and small disitllers. We did lots of work for seagrams, Brown Foremen and many others including Liquors for Jacquins. All Liquors where bottled at the Old Kinsey Bottle house.

The time line for the new bottling house started in sept 1966 and ended in Sept 1986 20 years to the month.

Everytime I walk around I find things that were short cutted by the management People who ran the place after Mr Si Neuman died.

I am always thankful that I worked there in those glory years and nothing can take away my Memory of how the Plant looked back then. It was a shining star with its flower beds and Dog wood trees and manicured lawns.

The buildings were always kept up and the place just plain looked awesome!
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

Originally Posted by dave ziegler

I am always thankful that I worked there in those glory years and nothing can take away my Memory of how the Plant looked back then. It was a shining star with its flower beds and Dog wood trees and manicured lawns.

The buildings were always kept up and the place just plain looked awesome!
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Dave Z

That sounds like heaven, Dave. I'm green with envy! Are you still in contact with any of your former co-workers? If so, do any of them have your passion for documenting what once stood on the site?

"I distrust a man who says 'when.' He's got to be careful not to drink too much, because he's not to be trusted when he does." Sydney Greenstreet

Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

Unclebunk most of them are very old that are still living, but none of them have a bad word about working there. I try when I talk to old timers like Ludy to get as much information as I can.

We made very good money and for the most part we had a good time working there. We did hard work but hard work makes you thankful for what you Have!

And it was a great a Company and a great place to work!
Thanks for asking!
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

Originally Posted by dave ziegler

Unclebunk most of them are very old that are still living, but none of them have a bad word about working there. I try when I talk to old timers like Ludy to get as much information as I can.

We made very good money and for the most part we had a good time working there. We did hard work but hard work makes you thankful for what you Have!

And it was a great a Company and a great place to work!
Thanks for asking!
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

I'm glad that you can look back on those years with such fond memories. Lots of folks can't and in their twilight years wish that things had turned out differently in their careers. You were blessed, by the sounds of it, and we benefit from hearing about your experiences. Thanks for sharing, Dave. I always read your posts with great interest.

"I distrust a man who says 'when.' He's got to be careful not to drink too much, because he's not to be trusted when he does." Sydney Greenstreet

Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

Originally Posted by unclebunk

I'm glad that you can look back on those years with such fond memories. Lots of folks can't and in their twilight years wish that things had turned out differently in their careers. You were blessed, by the sounds of it, and we benefit from hearing about your experiences. Thanks for sharing, Dave. I always read your posts with great interest.

Thanks Unclebunk I sure am glad I worked there then and where I do now as my longest job driving truck was very bad. But when I got down sized I got the job I have now and it is awesome and the best thing today we had kids from the local high school getting tours of the plant and everyone who took a kid through the plant brought them by my office to see my switches and old time stuff from Kinsey and my WWII pictures.
I feel very blessed! Thanks agian for the kind words I try to put as much interesting stuff here as I can, I want people to feel like they are at Kinsey back in the day. And most of all I want the memories to go on after I am gone.
Dave Z

Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

Originally Posted by dave ziegler

I feel very blessed! Thanks agian for the kind words I try to put as much interesting stuff here as I can, I want people to feel like they are at Kinsey back in the day. And most of all I want the memories to go on after I am gone.
Dave Z

Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

Sitting here tonight drinking some of the last original Inver House Scotch I have. And I'll tell you what it is a real good blended Scotch for $4.95 a Quart! The new stuff can't compare to it. One thing for sure once Mr Neuman built the still in Scotland and bottled the Scotch in Linfield he ended all the extra government taxes and made it possible for the common man to aford Scotch!

Mr Neuman Believed that all spirits should be afordable to the common working man. And because of what he did they are! He was the Henry Ford of Spirits!!

Till the day I leave this world I will be proud I worked for Publicker Industries!
Dave Z
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Kinsey The Unhurried Whiskey For Unhurried Moments

Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

On Saturday I walked around in the 1966 Bottling house and I could not believe my eyes. Every single whiskey pump at the back incoming wall have been stolen. I will say it again I hope for every dollar they made in the stealing I hope they lose four! Water is leaking in everywhere and the air is full of cement dust. It is so sad to see this once proud and newest of the buildings at kinsey in such a state. It is in a state of total loss.

I am glad I got in there and got the pictures I did of the pumps and all the tanks before the Thiefs and Vandel went crazy. Those pictures are here for History and what a great History for 14 years 1966 through 1979!

Because of the Bottling house I got a job at Kinsey and had a good life while I worked there and so did 600 other People!

That first day in Sept 1966 When the bottle House opened it was the most totally modern and largest Bottling house in the world. It had 11 lines and line A-1-F could do 40,000 bottles a day. A-1-F would clean the bottles with air, fill and cap them, Label them and put the bottles back in the case they started from at lines beginning. It was an amazing thing to see. It was driven by a early type of Computer that had Vacume tube Power!

When the bottle house opened people from all over the world came to tour it, now people go there to wreck it and steal a very sad ending to the Kinsey Distillery which Opened in 1892 a year before My Grandmother was born.

I will take some destroyed shots in there soon and get shots of what is left for History soon.
Dave Z
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It Seems All The Nicest People Drink Old Hickory
America's Most Magnificent Bourbon

Re: A trip in to the Old Continental Bottle house 1966 State of the Art

Thinking back to the years I worked at Kinsey there is one thing that sticks out in my Mind and that is the fact that everytime I drink some Scotch I can thank Mr Si Neuman for being able to get Scotch at a fair Price in the USA.

When Mr Neuman Built the Inver House Distillery as a American owned Distillery In Scotland He opened the door to reduced Prices for Scotch because it cut the import taxes way down. It made Scotch an afordable drink for the common man in the USA. The biggest reason being it was aged and Bottled in Linfield Pa at Kinsey.

Because of that the price was so good that it became the rage! In magazines you would read Ads saying Inver is in and then the places like London,Ny, phila, Pairis and so on. And the Name became the most well known Scotch around. Also for a resonablely priced Blended Scotch it was a very Good Scotch for the Money! Also Inver House Scotch suported auto Racing and sports for Years. I have an old America Road racing Calendar for the 1968 races Advertising Inver House Scotch as the Sponser.

The Next Time You decide to Have a Scotch say Thanks To Si Neuman and his vision to make the Product available to the Working man because it was his ideas that made it Happen.
Dave Z
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Inver Is In New York, Inver Is In London
Inver House Soft as a Kiss